The world's most extreme golf courses

Updated 1541 GMT (2241 HKT) September 30, 2013

The world's most extreme golf courses10 photos

Ice cool swinging – The World Ice Golf Championships takes place in Uummannaq, Greenland in temperatures which plummet to -50 Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit). Set 600 kilometers north of the Arctic circle, players have to cope with freezing glaciers and huge icebergs.

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The world's most extreme golf courses10 photos

Fire in the hole – Indonesian girls play at a golf course in Sleman, near Yogyakarta, as a cloud of ash rises from Mount Merapi in the background. Indonesia raised its alert for the volcano to its highest level in October 2010 and ordered people living nearby to evacuate. It last erupted in June 2006, killing two people, but its deadliest activity occurred in 1930 when more than 1,300 people died.

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The world's most extreme golf courses10 photos

Hot, hot, hot – As well as a regular 18-hole layout, New Zealand's Arikikapakapa Rotorua Golf Club also has a nine-hole thermal course where hot springs bubble, geysers spring and the smell of sulphur fills the air. The course sits alongside the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve.

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The world's most extreme golf courses10 photos

Helicopter hazard – To play the 19th hole at Legends Golf Resort in South Africa you have to take a helicopter to the tee, which is perched on top of a mountain. The green below is in the shape of Africa.

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The world's most extreme golf courses10 photos

Front line – An Afghan player takes a shot during a tournament at the Kabul Golf Club. The nine-hole course, which first opened in 1967, became a battlefield in the 1990s when rival Mujahideen factions fought among themselves after overthrowing a Soviet-backed regime.

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The world's most extreme golf courses10 photos

Speed golf – Brickyard Crossing Golf Club in Indianapolis has four holes inside the circuit that the famous Indy 500 is staged on.

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The world's most extreme golf courses10 photos

Bay warriors – Located in New Zealand's Hawkes Bay province, the Cape Kidnappers Golf course is considered one of the most beautiful and enchanting in the world. High up on the cliffs and overlooking the picturesque view, players must negotiate the deep gullies and crevices between each hole.

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The world's most extreme golf courses10 photos

Head for heights – An indigenous Aymara woman plays an approach shot as her colleague holds the flag at La Paz Golf Club in Bolivia. It is considered to be the highest course in the world, with its layouts ranging from 3,277 to 3,342 meters above sea level.

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The world's most extreme golf courses10 photos

Desert drive – Not all extreme golfing venues are so formal. Here a U.S. Army soldier of 333 Military Police Company hits a golf ball at his forward operating base in Paktika province, situated along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

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The world's most extreme golf courses10 photos

Driving range – Before his death in 2011, British-American photographer Tim Hetherington spent time taking pictures of a U.S. contingent of soldiers establishing an outpost in northeastern Afghanistan. Now on display at the Open Eye gallery in Liverpool, Hetherington's work explores how these soldiers cope with their emotionally draining existence -- in this case by playing on a makeshift driving range.